Telegram disables “People Nearby” feature

Telegram’s creator, Pavel Durov, disclosed in a Sept. 6 announcement that Telegram is deactivating the “People Nearby” feature and removing some features from the platform, such as media uploads to the “Telegraph” blog.

Pavel Durov admitted there were situations that “made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform” because of the dramatic increase in Telegram users, which he now estimates to be 950 million worldwide. “The 0.01% of Telegram users engaged in illegal activities give a bad image of the application, even though 99.99% of users have nothing to do with crime.”.

Although the great majority of the Telegram community was not abusing these features, Durov informed his followers that media uploads to the blogging platform were “misused” by bad actors.

The great majority of law-abiding Telegram users, however, are disproportionately at risk from the “0.001 percent involved in illicit activities,” as stated by Durov. A “businesses nearby” option will replace the individual geolocation tracking, the co-founder of Telegram also revealed.

According to French prosecutors, by not enforcing stricter content moderation policies, the founder of Telegram and the platform participated in the spread of child pornography. In August. 28. On February 28, 2024, Durov was accused by French authorities of money laundering, criminal association, and offering “cryptology” services without authorization.

Arrest warrants were issued for Pavel Durov and his brother Nikolai in France. The founders of Telegram allegedly refused to assist with an earlier investigation, according to French law enforcement officials, by not naming a specific Telegram user who allegedly disseminated materials about child abuse.

French officials claim that the investigation began when cybercrime investigators from the Paris prosecutor’s office discovered a hidden Telegram chatroom that was meant to entice and take advantage of minor girls.

For the first time since his arrest, Durov spoke out on Sept. 5. , using his Telegram channel to explain what had happened. Since then, Telegram has trimmed some features and altered the language in the Telegram Frequently Asked Questions section regarding the moderation of private chats, signaling a change in the platform’s content moderation policies.